This morning, Igor Eronko, a Sport-Express hockey writer in Russia, relayed information from Alexei Shevchenko, a prominent Russian sports journalist, that said Alex Ovechkin had a lower body injury that may force him out of the upcoming World Cup of Hockey. Shevchenko claims that Ovechkin suffered the injury in an “out of profile” sporting activity not related to hockey, and that the “treatment of the injury could take at least three weeks”.

According to @Boogaard_2 Alexander Ovechkin has a lower body injury and he may miss the #WCH2016

The Capitals captain then responded to these rumors himself by posting the following Instagram video with the caption “Do not believe the rumors am getting ready !!!” with accompanying emojis signifying that he is indeed okay.

“Right now I am continuing to get ready for the season, especially that we will have an early start because of the World Cup of Hockey,” Ovechkin said as well in a statement released Tuesday by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. “I am doing my usual volume of work in the gym and on the ice. No idea how rumors about some type of an injury surfaced. I am completely healthy.”

2:50 PM Update: On his vlog, Alexei Shevchenko has clarified his original comments and doubled down on his claims, which have been refuted by a Caps team spokesman.

“Alexander Ovechkin was injured while playing basketball,” Shevchenko says. “[Ovi] was very unlucky to fall down. There immediately was a suspicion of a serious problem, but further assessment showed there is no serious damage. Nevertheless, the video from Novogorsk is not very convincing. According to my information, he did sprain a ligament, and recovery should take three weeks.”